balancing life & work

It is very vulnerable for me to talk about my age, mostly because it isn’t usual for someone to start a business at age 16. I started this business when most teenagers have not come close to settling on a career path. I am now 18 years old, and I have a successful wedding floral business. Just about everyone I work with, whether it be the vendors or the couple themselves, are much older than me. Which could most definitely give me an advantage in some areas, but in my head it just makes me very intimated. I tend to compare myself to older people, because they’re further along then me. Although, they have had way more time to work on their business, so it only makes sense that they are ahead of me. I am still trying to pound this into my brain haha! I have felt as if I am the only one struggling with making time for myself and getting all my work done, since I am younger than everyone else. Lately, I have connected with more people in the wedding industry, and I realized that most everyone who owns their own business struggles with this here and there.

This past summer was my second season doing weddings on my own, and one of the hardest summers of my life. Not because anything tragic happened, but I don’t think I have ever learned so much in a single year. I gained so much experience, learned more about design, the clients that fit me best, and what I should be charging. I also really had to figure out how to balance my personal life and my work life, which is extra hard when you’re the only one running the show. It still blows my mind that second year in business I did 60 weddings, with very little help. I can’t even express how grateful I am to be doing what I love at such a young age, and it being so successful!

This age also comes with a lot of change. I am changing a lot personally, and I seem to change my mind a lot when it comes to making decisions for my business. In the past year I moved out of my parents house into an apartment. Then my boyfriend and I ended up getting a house together, that we are currently just settling into and remodeling together. I am in no way complaining, because I feel so lucky to be able to do all the things I am doing at my age. I just have to admit that its hard to get used to running a business and dealing with so much change. I find myself either fully invested in my work, or fully invested in my personal life. It is sort of impossible to do that, when I am the only one in control of both things.

There’s just something about off season that really gets me all mixed up. During the summer, I am so busy that I don’t even have the opportunity to let my life get in the way of my work. November rolls around, I am getting just a couple emails a day and only working on quotes. Which makes it way easier for me to want to put work aside and just focus on my life. In the summer I put my life aside, and in winter I want to put work aside. I have been trying really hard lately to find some sort of balance, and getting on track so that this next season can be easier than the last one.

Most of my life I have been very shy, and I am just getting to the point where it’s not completely uncomfortable for me to talk to someone I don’t know. Recently, I have become friends with random people off social media. It is the scariest thing to me at first, but it has ended up being so beneficial to connect with like minded people. My plan for this blog is to get a tiny bit more personal. I love to see how people are doing in their real life, not just the most perfect moments that they capture and post on social media. With that being said, I would love to hear how you have figured out how to balance life and work. Reach out to me, tell me your thoughts, and how you are struggling or succeeding with this topic.

Thank you for reading - may we all find the perfect balance between life and work!